Home Office

Agung Mantra

Sarah Newton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made in securing the return of Agung Mantra to the UK.

James Brokenshire: The onus is normally on the individual to provide all the necessary evidence to support their visa application. Mr Mantra failed to provide the necessary evidence to support his initial application. The Home Office worked with him to conduct the necessary checks in order to establish his claim to hold Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK. His application was reconsidered and granted.

Islamic State

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent UK nationals joining IS.

James Brokenshire: British citizens fighting with violent extremist groups committing atrocities in Syria and Iraq will clearly have the potential to pose a threat to the UK should they return. Such individuals are among our primary counter-terrorism concerns.For those individuals who are at risk of radicalisation, agencies such as the police and local authorities work together to assess the nature and the extent of the risk and, where necessary, provide an appropriate support package tailored to individual needs. We advise against all travel to Syria; anyone who does so is putting themselves in considerable danger. We have held community events in mosques and universities to dissuade people from travelling to Syria and to help Syrian people in other ways, emphasising that Syrians themselves have been clear that they do not want foreigners to come to their country. The best way for the public to help is to donate to orotherwise support UK registered charities that have ongoing relief operations.Where an individual intends nonetheless to go to Syria, there are a number of tools at our disposal to disrupt travel. In some cases we can use the Royal Prerogative to withdraw passports. We also use powers to question people at borders to determine whether they are involved with terrorism. The Pre-Departure Checks Scheme is in place to identify those who pose a terrorist or terrorism-related threat and prevent them from flying to and from the UK. Where individuals have left the UK, we work with international partners to disrupt onward travel. If there is evidence that people are going to Syria to engage in terrorist activity they can be arrested and prosecuted. Each case is considered individually; if the police refer a case to the Crown Prosecution Service, they consider whether there is sufficient evidence of any offence, and if so, whether it is in the public interest to prosecute.As the Prime Minister announced in the House on 1 September, this Government is seeking to strengthen our ability to meet the unprecedented scale of this threat. The proposed new counter-terrorism powers include:* Specific and targeted legislation to provide the police with a temporary power to seize a passport at the border, during which time they will be able to investigate the individual concerned.* If there is any judgment that threatens the operation of our existing powers to revoke passports, introducing primary legislation immediately so that Parliament, not the courts, can determine whether it is right that we have this power.* A targeted, discretionary power to allow us to exclude British nationals from the UK.* Putting our long-standing arrangements on aviation security around the world on a statutory footing. Airlines will have to comply with our no fly list arrangements, give us information on passenger lists and comply with our security screening requirements.* Putting our de-radicalisation programme, called Channel, on a statutory footing.* New powers to add to our existing Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures, including stronger locational constraints on suspects under TPIMs – either through enhanced use of Exclusion Zones, or through relocation powers. Anyone subject to our strengthened Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures will be required to engage with the PREVENT programme.

Radicalism

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent the spread of Islamic State extremism to within UK borders.

James Brokenshire: The Government's PREVENT programme aims to prevent people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It includes programmes to deal with extremist groups, including those that have been proscribed by the Government. It includes work to challenge terrorist ideology (including disrupting extremist speakers and removing material online) and to intervene and stop people being radicalised. In the context of Syria and Iraq, we work to dissuade people from travelling there. We also have a range of interventions, from arrest at port for those suspected of committing terrorist offences, to support for people at risk from radicalisation.The Government's Channel programme provides tailored support to people who have been identified as at risk of radicalisation. Referrals to Channel come from a range of sources including families, police, local authorities and others. Since April 2012 there have been over 2000 referrals to Channel and hundreds of people have been offered support. In order to ensure our frontline services are able to deliver this support, since June 2011, we have provided training on tackling extremism to over 24,000 frontline public sector workers and are rolling out a revised version of the training this autumn.The police work with the internet industry to remove terrorist material hosted in the UK or overseas and are making good progress. Since February 2010, the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) has taken down more than 49,000 pieces of unlawful terrorist-related content which encourages or glorifies acts of terrorism. Over 30,000 of these have been removed since December 2013.In parallel, we have made it easier for the public to report terrorist and extremist content they are concerned about via www.gov.uk/report-terrorism.As the Prime Minister announced on 1 September, we keep this work under constant review and are looking at what more we can add to this comprehensive package of measures designed to ensure that we continue to do all we can to prevent the spread of extremism.

Schools: Radicalism

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any teachers have been arrested in connection with Operation Trojan Horse.

James Brokenshire: This is an operational matter for the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she was made aware of concerns relating to ETS tests broadcast by the BBC Panorama programme in February 2014.

James Brokenshire: The BBC wrote to the Home Secretary regarding abuse uncovered during their investigation into the student visa system before the broadcast of Panorama on 10 February 2014.